Ho Van Hai, or commonly known by his pen name Bac Si Ho Hai (Doctor Ho Hai), is a medical doctor and blogger. A political commentator, Ho Van Hai wrote articles regarding the Formosa environmental disaster which resulted in tonnes of dead fish washing up ashore in the central provinces of Vietnam in May 2016. Doctor Ho Hai was transferred to Xuyen Moc Prison Camp in early October 2018.

Xuyen Moc Prison Camp

Activists being held at this prison:

A revised and expanded penal code took effect January 1, 2018 (known as the “Amended 2015 Penal Code”). While the previous provisions criminalizing political expression remained unchanged, they were renumbered. For instance, Article 79 (attempting to overthrow the government), Article 88 (anti-state propaganda), and Article 258 (abusing democratic rights) were renumbered as Article 109, Article 117, and Article 331, respectively.

For consistency with past media coverage, our database records the Article(s) that the prisoner was charged with (i.e., based on the version of the penal code applicable at the time of the sentencing).